The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device and a method of manufacturing a mask and, in particular, to a technology effectively applied to a pattern exposure device for transferring a predetermined pattern to a semiconductor wafer.
The micromachining of the element, the wiring and the like of a semiconductor device has been accomplished by the increasing performance of a demagnification projection aligner used in a manufacturing process (lithography process) of the semiconductor device. However, as the micromachining of a pattern such as the element or the wiring rapidly progresses, the effect which the lens aberration of the demagnification projection aligner has on the pattern increases and hence, to further progress the micromachining of the pattern, the aberration of the lens needs to be reduced.
An evaluation technology of the lens aberration is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-288567 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-30028: that is, a technology of evaluating the lens aberration of a demagnification projection aligner by subjecting a photoresist film to an exposure processing and a development processing by using a photomask which produces a phase difference of 180 degrees between light passing through a semi-transparent portion of a mask substrate and light passing through a transparent portion thereof and then by observing a transferred pattern by a second light intensity peak generated in the vicinity of the pattern to which the transparent portion is transferred is disclosed. Also, in order to solve the problems of deformation of the pattern caused by the lens aberration, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-215861 is disclosed a technology of comparing a pattern actually transferred to a photoresist film by using a mask with a design pattern (a pattern formed on the mask) and of correcting the pattern of the mask if there exists a pattern exceeding an allowable amount of deformation.
However, the present inventor found that the above technology had the following problems.
That is, since the required pattern size has been reduced to almost the limit of the pattern size capable of being formed by a demagnification projection aligner today, it is a reality that the above reduction in the lens aberration can not respond to the required pattern size. For this reason, it is found that even if the lens aberration of the demagnification projection aligner is very small, problems such as the deformation and misalignment of a pattern caused by the lens aberration arise. The deformation, misalignment and the like of a pattern cause variations in characteristics and a reduction in the overlay allowance and the like of a semiconductor integrated circuit device and hence present big problems.
Also, the technology of comparing a pattern actually transferred to a photoresist film with a design pattern and of correcting the pattern of the mask based on the results of the comparison has, for example, the following problems.
First, the above technology present a problem that it takes much time and increases a manufacturing cost to manufacture a photomask. That is, in the above technology, to produce a good photomask, a photomask for inspection needs to be actually manufactured and it takes much time to measure a pattern. In particular, since the lens aberration is different between pattern exposure devices, it is necessary to repeat a series of processes of actually manufacturing, exposing, comparing and correcting the photomask for inspection for each pattern exposure device. This is the same also in the case where one correction process can not completely correct the pattern of the mask. Therefore, the above technology presents a problem that it costs much time, labor, and material to produce one good photomask.
Secondly, the above technology present a problem of a decrease in the accuracy of correction. That is, in the above technology, the pattern actually transferred to the photoresist is compared and observed and the causes of the deformation and misalignment of the transferred pattern include disturbances other than the lens aberration such as the performance and the measuring method of the photoresist film, the completeness of the mask or the like. In the above technology, a defective pattern caused by such disturbances is corrected regarding the defective pattern as being caused by the lens aberration, which results in decreasing the accuracy of correction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technology capable of inhibiting or preventing a pattern abnormality such as the deformation or misalignment of the pattern of a semiconductor integrated circuit device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a technology capable of shortening a time necessary for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a technology capable of reducing a labor necessary for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a technology capable of reducing the manufacturing cost of a semiconductor integrated circuit device.
The above and other objects and new features will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.
The outline of typical inventions of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described in the following.
That is, the present invention automatically corrects the pattern data of a mask based on the wavefront aberration data of the lens of a pattern exposure device or an aberration data equivalent to the same and then transfers a predetermined pattern by using a mask made based on the pattern data of the mask after the correction by means of the above pattern exposure device.
Further, the present invention makes the correction to each plane position in an exposed region.
Still further, the present invention makes the different correction according to the plane position in an exposed region.
Still further, the present invention divides an exposed region into predetermined blocks and makes the correction of a pattern data to each block according to the lens aberration corresponding to each block.